There are many reasons to visit Japan. The country is so rich and full of culture and history that anyone would be a fool to not take advantage of an opportunity to go there. Japanese culture is known for many ancient traditions. It can almost seem overwhelming at times because it seems there is so much ceremony involved in aspects of every day living. Of all the traditions that I’ve ever heard of however, one that involves rice paddy’s is probably one of the coolest. A Japanese farming village called Inakadate in northern Japan has been known for an extremely unique form of art for quite some time. If you ever get the chance to go to Japan, you owe it to yourself to witness this.
The whole village of Inakadate participates in this incredibly unique form of art.
I have never heard of another place that does anything like this.
The villagers map out of a picture they want to create.
As the rice paddy’s grow, the picture slowly becomes more and more clear.
Until it is an incredibly detailed and beautiful piece of giant art!
The village usually tends to use traditional Japanese artistic values in their pictures.
That’s not to say they don’t throw in some modern flair every now and then. Here you see Marilyn Monroe in her famous pose.
As the depictions became more popular with visiting tourists, the villagers have tried to up their creative game.
Even Star Wars gets some love!
The detail this village has been able to create has tried to be imitated, but no one has ever been able to do it quite like the residents of Inakadate.
If you were just passing by on the road, you may not even be able to see these things!
The skill these people have is absolutely enviable.
Watch the village’s Vice Mayor, Yukio Kasai explain the process:
The detail in these is something that I never thought would be possible with rice paddy’s. This entire city is quite adept at art it seems though. This is just yet another reason I have for wanting to visit Japan. It is one of my dream vacation destinations, and hopefully this tradition is still ongoing when I finally get a chance to visit.